The Early Years

In 1897 the Victoria Pavilion was opened and the two buildings were advertised as ‘The Victoria Pavilion and Oriental Ballroom’. The Pavilion was designed by the Manchester firm of Messrs Magnal and Littlewood, with the scuplted relief in the auditorium by Bardell. 

Once through the carved walnut doors, a marble staircase took patrons up to the wide red carpeted promenade corridors, leading to the massive auditorium with its roof span of 118 feet, built by Handyside’s Ironworks of Derby (Christian 1961), and considered to be the largest in the world at the time for a place of entertainment. The stage was larger than that of any London theatre, and was adorned by an enormous fire curtain painted by Lionel Hart to resemble Heysham village (Bingham 1990, 148). A contemporary newspaper article gave a very complimentary description of the theatre, and a page from a Winter Gardens programme from 1897 details the entertainment on offer on Monday August 16th, which included an orchestra, acrobats, comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers, and a strongman. Observant patrons may have noticed a spelling mistake as they crossed the threshold of the new building: the mosaic tiled entranceway read ‘The Victoria Pavillion’; the error was blamed on an Italian craftsman and can still be seen.

In 1898, the Victoria Pavilion was internally rebuilt and a Grand and Upper circle were created, bringing the number of seats to 2,200, and total building costs to £100,000. An article from the Lancaster Observer dated the 15th April 1898 enthused about the renovated building and the entertainment on offer ‘the immense pavilion which, now that it is nearly finished, strikes everybody who enters it with its beauty and size, was on Monday filled with pleasure seekers. The room for dancing was crowded to excess. Music for dancing was played by Devine’s Band, but a listener could hardly distinguish it amid the chatter of so many excited tongues. The entertainment in the pavilion was an excellent one. Miss Norah Emerald gave a couple of pretty songs and dances, and was received with favour. Vasco, the ‘mad musician’ was extremely humerous, and has a command over a number of musical instruments, many of which he plays extremely well. Alexandra and Bertie, on a balanced trapeze, gave a clear though dangerous performance. The Donaldson Brothers and Ardell were as screamingly funny as ever in their ‘Fun at the Zoo’, Madame Holland sang ‘Whisper and I shall Hear’ very pleasingly, and was encored. There were also other excellent turns and the management may be congratulated on the good start made this season. So far as can be judged, the popularity of the place is as great as ever.’

The Victoria Pavilion saw entertainment other than live theatre from very early in its existence. Animated picture shows were a popular feature, as well as lantern slides of still pictures. The first lengthy cinema showing was of the Diamond Jubilee procession shown at the Winter Gardens in 1897. From then on there were ‘two representations each evening, 7.30 and 9.30’ which included pictures of the Oberamergau Passion Play. Newsreels comprised the main part of the first programmes with ‘living pictures’ of the Boxer Rebellion (1900), the Boer War (1900) and ‘Lord Kitchener returning in triumph’ (1903) (op cit, 149). Although the Winter Gardens complex was popular, especially in the summer months, the investment had been a massive one, and the owners found themselves increasing undercapitalised, a fact compounded by the slump which followed the Second Boar War of 1899-1902. Morecambe was hit particularly badly by this national slump, rows of houses stood empty and bankruptcy was common. In 1908 the company which owned the Winter Gardens went into liquidation; the buildings were put up for auction at the Midland Hotel in August 1908, but no buyers were found. The programme of sale particulars and plan produced for this auction is, however, a valuable historical document, as it contains a wealth of detailed information about the Winter Gardens.